Author's Note: Long Author's Note, really short chapter. Jeez, I WANT PREDATOR: CONCRETE JUNGLE! I've been playing too much AVP 2, too much A and not enough P. Aliens and Colonial Marines are amazing, but shouldn't there be separate games for both? They should have completed "Colonial Marines" for the PS 2, now that they have Concrete Jungle out (even though my friend tells me you STILL have to fight aliens as the predator….TTTT). All of my ideas come from the Aliens movie, the Predator movies, or AVP. The two guards of Rykov are synthetics (think Bishop…my third favorite character, after Hudson and Vasquez, of course!) Remember, everything will be re-formatted to 1st person perspective soon, along with…the SPECIAL EDITION OF THIS FIC! Yay!

Prey to a Hunter 13

Chapter 13:

Into the depths…

(Jack)

Mira lay completely still on the ground. The hunter was standing above her, glaring down at her, its face finally bared against the cool air of the evening. The chopper still smouldered, casting a warm glow over the scene. I found it deceptively peaceful, and would have almost relaxed, had not a large, alien creature stood before me, glaring at all of us in turn.

Karen's hands were tight on her rifle as she prepared to strike. It was almost inconceivable to me how focused she was on the implement of war. I really had to see it to believe it. Karen, the town hottie, that most of the town's heterosexual males crushed over at one point or another, who couldn't cook for her life (the dish she cooked for me making this statement obvious), was now acting like a hardcore soldier. It seemed way out of character for someone like her. I almost felt like a divine being, up there in some high place, was laughing at us, writing this like one would a story, and twisting everything out of character.

Ann's spontaneous mood swings I could excuse as pregnancy, however. She had been showing more emotion lately than I had ever thought possible. She almost seemed like a new person.

What was I doing, thinking about my wife's mood swings when a killer alien stood right in front of me? I was really losing my mind.

Karen shifted position ever so slightly, readying her rifle. The hunter held out its hand to Mira, who, to my surprise, took it and stood up. She looked slowly at all of us in turn, her face expressionless. She had changed somehow, I could see it, but yet, I could not. Mira reached up and unbuckled her chest armor, and dropped her helmet to the ground.

"I'm sorry, everyone" she said, before lunging forward and…

"Oh my god!" Karen managed to scream. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst…

(Mira)

The hunter that stood before me knew everything. He was a respected warrior, having brought home the skulls of dozens of humans on his hunts. He would only kill with honor, letting his "prey" know that he was there, stalking them for several days, and then confronting them in an all-out fight. He was my father's compatriot and partner during the hunts. Until, of course, my father was killed. He had hunted in the large city of Los Angeles, America, several years ago. He did not know the human he mated with had borne his daughter when a human police officer killed him in a "fair duel", at least by Yautja traditions.

He and my mother had met under the strangest of circumstances. She was part of the US Army Rangers, during the final days of Operation: Desert Shield. The Yautja had come to Earth during this conflict, and had watched as the events of the short war unfolded. The skinned bodies and brutal, yet finessed, slaughters took place in Baghdad, Kuwait City, and other towns where the fighting was heaviest. The Yautja did not like to admit it, but they were a dying breed. Mating with humans was seen as beneficial for their survival, and all Yautja/human mixes were either abducted from their homes shortly after birth, or killed, seen as weak by the pure-blooded warriors. Some Yautja had even taking to abducting and raping humans, taking the fertilized cell from the human, and then killing her. Many of the older, nobler warriors saw this as heresy, but the middle-aged and younger hunters saw this as the only way to propagate their species.

I knew what I had to do. I couldn't turn my back on my heritage, even though I was still part human.

"I'm sorry, everyone" I said, tearing my Marine armor off. I wouldn't be needing it. Karen immediately knew what I was about to do, and screamed at me to stop. I couldn't stop now, not with so much at stake.

I charged forwards, and getting a small amount of distance between myself and the surprised Yautja, I wheeled about and jump-kicked him in the head. The warrior reeled in surprise, which gave me just enough time to rush up to him, snatch the long spear from his belt, and run completely the other way, towards the crater in the ground.

I only had seconds. The Yautja was already recovering, so I slid down the sides of the hole, and landed on the orange, alien metal at the bottom of the pit. The hunter roared in anger behind me.

Using every inch of strength in my body, I pulled at the metal doors. The metal screeched and bent under my arms. The hunter was right behind me as I slid down, into the bowels of his ship…

(Cliff)

I was stunned. Simply stunned by what had just happened. Did I even understand what had just occurred in front of me? That Mira had been the one to distract the hunter and draw it away from us?

I looked once at Jack and Karen, who looked right back at me, both confused. I knew what I had to do. I sprinted down into the crater, following Mira and the hunter into the depths of what I believed to be the hunter's ship.

"Cliff! Wait!-" Jack yelled after me. But I knew that I could not wait for anything. That thing was going to kill Mira, and unless I wasn't mistaken, she was going in to save Rick and Manna. I doubted personally that they were alive, but I would not leave Mira to die at the hands of the hunter. Gripping my carbine in my sweaty hands, I plunged down into the ship, listening to the sounds of retreating footsteps. They echoed throughout the halls of this…spaceship, if that was what it was.

I was completely blown away by what awaited me in the next room.